"We were short before the last ­deadline and I think we struggled to find consistency ­because of that."

Liverpool took time earlier in the season to adapt to their new manager's ideas and style of play but six wins in their last 10 outings have improved the outlook considerably, with Gerrard looking to learn from arch-rivals Manchester United.

"I like the new manager's philosophy. I like his style of play," the midfielder added. "The gap between us and, say, Manchester United is now ­severe but I ­believe that, on our day, we can beat any team in the league.

“What we need to find is that ­consistency. We can actually learn from ­United. There are games when they don't play well and they still find a way to win.

"When we don't play well, we don't win. We need to find a way to win games when we're not really at our top level."